Council addresses brush dump

Olney City Council approved at its meeting Monday resuming normal hours at the city brush dump beginning this weekend.

City Manager Larry Taylor asked the council about expanding the hours before spring cleanup. He said the dump has been busy during its current Saturday hours of 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Councilman Bob Ferguson wondered if the city had heard complaints from people not being able to use the dump due to the reduced hours.

Taylor said there have been some complaints. City Clerk Belinda Henton said businesses have complained.

Councilman Gary Foster said he did not think the city had an obligation to be open any longer for tree-trimming businesses. He said he assumed these businesses were from out of town.

Henton said there are local tree-trimming businesses, through they are not registered as arborists.

Councilman Brad Brown said he wondered if next year the city should have set hours for the dump in season and out of season. He said he attends the council meetings regularly and he gets confused about what the hours are there.

Henton said the hours are on the city's website.

Brown also said he has heard one or two complaints from private citizens.

Audience member Kevin Ahlfield wondered how much it cost to have an employee at the brush dump on a Saturday.

City Treasurer Charles Sanders said it could approach $200 for a full-time employee.

Ahlfield recommended the city install a motion-sensing camera that could catch people who were dumping things they should not be. He said it would be cheaper than having an employee there.

Foster said part of the problem at the dump is the location where people are dumping items, and also that some people burn materials in areas that city city does not want burning to occur.

Ahlfield said city employees told him that the fires were started by people to hide evidence of materials that were not supposed to be dumped in the area.

Regardless, Taylor said just having a camera there would not work because staffing there is required by state statute.